Retaining-clip for type or printing-plates.



W. R. ALLEN.

RETAlNING CLIP FOR TYPE 0R PRINTING PLATES. APPLICATION men MAY 19. 1911.

1,274,363. Patented Aug. 6, 1918.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM R. ALLEN, 0F CLEVELAND, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO THE AMERICAN MULTIGRAPH COMPANY, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF OHIO.

RETAINING-CLIP FOR TYPE OR PRINTING-PLATES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 6, 1918.

Application filed May 19, 1917. Serial No. 169,626.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM R. ALLEN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Cleveland in the county of Cuyahoga and State of ()hio, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Retaining-Clips for Type or Printing-Plates, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to a spring clip adapted to hold type or printing plates on a suitable holder having parallel rails. The

invention is in the nature of an improvement on the clips shown in Patents Nos. 1,031,447 and 1,031,661 granted July 2nd, 1916, to The American Multigraph Company, as assignee of Ferdinand Hohenbcrger and Henry C. Osborn, respectively. The present clip is believed to be dominated by the claims of each of those patents.

As shown in the patents referred to the clip is made of a single piece of sheet metal bent intermediately to produce a hollow overhanging head from the under side of which the end portion of the metal projects downwardly in the form of outwardly convex wings. Such a clip may be sprung between the heads of adjacent rails, and, by binding against them, hold type located between the rails against longitudinal shifting. In the latter patent above referred to, the head is provided with a projectin lip at one end, which may overhang the flange of a printing plate so that the clip may serve both to hold a plate resting on the tops of the rails and to prevent shifting of grooved type slidably mounted between the rails.

The clips shown in the patents referred to have been found satisfactory in practice where the rails on the type-holding member are accurately equidistant, as is desirable. However, it has been found difiicnlt to obtain rails of exactly the same width of head, and it is also diflioult to mount them accurately spaced on a segment or drum-like holder. Accordingly, it frequently happens that the holders do not have the type channels of absolutely equal dimensions, with the result that if the clip is properly dimensioned to effectively engage the rails where the channel is widest, such clip, when inserted between narrower channels, will have the free ends of the wings impinge each other and the shape of the wings thereby distorted as they are inserted. This causes a permanent set in the spring metal and interferes with the subsequent use of the clip. The present invention is designed specifically to overcome this diiiiculty and provide a clip equally adapted for use in channels of varying size, within a range which may be easily maintained in the manufacture of type-holding drums or segments.

In accomplishing the above object, I have recessed one of the wings of the clip intermediately and have removed the end portions of the other wing, so that the latter wing is adapted to extend through the recess of the former wing. In such a clip the free edges of the wings do not constitute positive stops limiting the inward movement, and a much wider range of movement -is allowed than in the clips shown in the patents mentioned.

My invention is illustrated in the drawings hereof and is hereinafter more fully explained, and its essential chanu-teristics are summarized in the claims.

In the drawings lfiigure 1 is a perspective view of my clip; Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same; Fig. 3 is a 'lragmentary cross section through a type-holding segment, carrying type and a printing plate and using my holding clips; Fig. l is an enlarged section through adjacent rails showing a clip in place in end elevation; Fig. 5 is a plan of a portion of a type holder equipped with my clips and showing their use in holding type and printing plates; Fig. 6 is an enlarged diagrannnatic view illustrating the extreme inward position of the clip wings.

10 represents the clip complete. As shown, it consists of a sheet metal member having an intermediate substantially flat portion 11 at the edges of which themetal rounds downwardly, as at 12, and then inwardly,,as at 13, to position each side of the longitudinal central plane. From these positions the end portions of the metal are turned downwardly in outwardly bowed or convex wings 1 1 and 15.

The wing 141- of my clip is intermediately recessed, as shown at 16, the recess being conveniently of a segmental form. The wing 15 has its corners 17 removed, preferably on a curve, so that the extreme edge 18 of the remaining portion of this wing is conextent, thus increasing the possibility of approach of the wlngs and prevent ng the con:

vexities being distorted when the narrowness of the channel springs them inwardly beyond the normal.- This positive overlapping of the wing edges is clearly illustrated in Fig. 6

In Fig. 3, A indicates a suitable typeholding drum or segment carrying radial rails B. These rails, as shown, in this figure and in Fig. A, have overhanging heads Z), whereby undercut longitudinal channels are provided adapted to confine grooved type. The type may be of the character shownin Patent No. 836,026, granted November 13, 1906, to The American Multigraph Com: pany, as assignee of Harry G. Gammeter. Such grooved type .areillustrated in Figs. 3 and 5, hereof at 0, these type being pre: vented from shifting longitudinally by abutting the ends of the clips. These views also show at D a printing plate resting on the tops of the rails, this plate being held by lips 19 projecting from the end of the top. portion 11 of the clip.

' After the type are. in place between the rails, or afterthe plate has been put in place, the locking of these printing members is effected by pressing the clip radially inward so that itswings spring into channels, and then, if necessary, shoving the clip lengthwise by a considerable pressure.

* In this inward radial movement of the wings the free edges thereof are necessarily brought toward each other as the crowns of the wings pass between the rail heads. With; rails positioned to carry type 01": pica 1 size, for instance, the space between therail heads is so small that. the necessary convexity of the clip wings required to obtain a firm hold on the rail heads, brings the inner edges of the free edges of the wings into substantially the same plane when the wings are passing between the rail heads. Accordingly, it results,-in the old construction, that if the rail heads are slightly too close together the free edges of the wings abut and form a positive step, and the sides of the wings are flattened out by the insertion and take a permanent set in such flattened form, so that the clip does not operate satisfactorily when thereafter employed in a channel of normal width or one slightly greater than normal. The present invention avoids this, as it lets each wing spring inward freely considerably past the other, as clearly illustrated in Fig. '6.

Having thus described my invention, wha I claim is: v

1. A spring clip comprising a head and two projecting wings which are bowed outwardly, said wings having their edge portions formed into a cooperating recess and a projection respectively, whereby their free edges may move beyond the plane between the wings.

2. A spring clip having a head and two longitudinal wings which extend from the formed that their free edges may be moved each past the other. V

4:. A spr ng clip, having ,a head and two wings side by s de, 011B:W111g having an intermediately positioned recess extending from its extreme edge toward the head, the

other wing having its corners removed to points overlapping the recess. v

5. A spring clipmade of a single piece of sheet metal bent to produce ahead and two outwardly bowed projecting wings, said wings being complementarily cut away .at their edges, whereby each may be, moved past the other. V 6 A spring clip madeof a pieceof sheet metal bent to make an intermediate sub-. stantially fiat head with ii -curved edges, and two projecting longitudinal outwardly bowed wings side by sideextending from the inner edges of the in-curved portions of the head, one wing being provided with a projection and the other with a recess, which recess and projection are locatedv opposite each other. i v

7 A p l 'gnlip ha ga b dand W wings side by side and bowed outwardly, one wing havingan intermediately .posi tioned recessextending from its extreme edge toward the head, the other wing hav: ing its corners removed topoints overlapping the recess, the recessbeing segmental and the corners of the other wing being removed on curves. 7 p I 8. A-spring clip made of a'single piece of metal bent to make an intermediate head, andtwo projecting longitudinal wings side by side, which wings arebowed outwardly in straight lines, one wing having a centrally located long, recess extending from,

its, free edge upwardly, and the other .wing having its corners renlOyedto points 0ver= hanging the recess, whereby :the. extreme edges of the wings maybe forced to opposite sidesof the. intermediate plane between substantially parallel to the flat portion and spaced therefrom, and two wings projecting from the inner edges of the inwardly projecting portions, said wings being outwardly bowed while being longitudinally straight, one of said wings having a central recess and the corners of the other wing being removed to points overlapping the recess, whereby the freeedge of one wing may be caused to overlap the free edge of 10 the other wing.

In testimony whereof I hereunto aflix my signature.

WILLIAM R. ALLEN.

copies of this patent may be obtained for five cent: each, by addressing the "Oommlsaloner of Patents, Washington, D. 0. 

